Four years ago, nine communities from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) filed a complaint with the Independent Complaints Mechanism (ICM) of three European development banks financing the oil palm plantation company Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC). The complainants were seeking a resolution to a long-standing land conflict with the company and the ICM agreed to proceed with a mediation process.
Congo DR
Action alerts
24 February 2023
Other information
16 January 2023
In September 2022, two large contingents of national police and military were dispatched to oil palm plantation concession areas of the Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC) in Lokutu and Boteka.
Bulletin articles
11 October 2022
This bulletin highlights materials and analysis related to communities’ struggles against industrial tree plantations. It also pays homage to communities in DRC struggling to get their lands back from an oil palm company since colonial times. Their courageous struggle showcases the multiple layers of oppression and violations that result from the plantation model.
Articles
29 April 2022
The design of the complaint mechanism has systematically failed to resolve the communities' complaints. But then, why does this mechanism exist?
Publications
28 April 2022
This publication gathers eleven articles that reflect on fundamental and dangerous dimensions of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), the dominant forest policy around the world since 2007.
Bulletin articles
23 March 2022
Many oil palm plantations’ concessions in West and Central Africa were built on lands stolen from communities during colonial occupations. This is the case in the DRC, where food company Unilever began its palm oil empire. Today, these plantations are still sites of on-going poverty and violence. It is time to end the colonial model of concessions and return the land to its original owners.
Articles
9 March 2022
Collective statement | 28 February 2022
Action alerts
11 January 2022
(Only available in French) Polices et militaires tirent à balles réelles sur des ouvriers de la Société FERONIA/PHC en grève à la plantation de Boteka.
Bulletin articles
9 July 2021
This article highlights the voices of Justiça Ambiental! in Mozambique and the African ecofeminist alliance WoMIN.
Bulletin articles
9 July 2021
Industrial-scale renewable energy infrastructure has seen a revival in the agenda of the ‘energy transition’ and as part of the economic recovery plans in front of the pandemic. Besides, the production of ‘green hydrogen’ from these projects adds another layer of injustices.
Other information
17 May 2021
Another two young men have been killed at the industrial oil palm plantations of Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC). European development banks have been financing PHC for years, and agreed to hand over the plantations to an obscure private equity fund after the previous owner, Feronia Inc. went bankrupt in 2020 – after having received more than USD 100 million in development funding.
Action alerts
11 May 2021
Available only in French.